The Kudzu Case

One of Judge Ashman's more notable and unusual cases had the unexpected result of ultimately defining the law for appeals from municipal courts in Georgia. Russell v. City of East Point, 261 Ga. 213, 403 SE2d 50 (1991), an appeal of Judge Ashman's decision, dealt with how appellate courts handle appeals of Constitutional issues from local courts. Locally, it is more commonly known as the kudzu case, and dealt with an attorney's home being overgrown with the weed. The constitutional issue was whether a right to a jury trial applies in a local ordinance case in which the court has held that there is no possibility of incarceration.